Cyclone Gaja: All dams in Tamil Nadu put on high alert

CHENNAI: Following a special advisory from the Central Water Commission of the Union ministry of water resources, the state government has directed the public works department to keep round-the-clock vigil at all dams, especially small and medium ones, in the state.
“Extremely heavy rainfall in the catchment area is sufficient to fill them up and lapse time between rainfall and peak inflow can be less than 24 hours and, in some cases, it can be as low as 6-12 hours,” the advisory said.
This follows the India Meteorological Department’s latest forecast that cyclone Gaja was likely to cross the TN coast on November 15 forenoon.
Dams such as Vaigai, Sholayar, Parambikulam, Aliyar, Bhavanisagar and Amaravathi are 80-90% full. On Tuesday, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami ordered release of water from Vaigai dam to benefit ayacut areas in Madurai, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts. The dam will be opened on Wednesday.
Citing the meteorology forecast, the water commission advised TN government to maintain strict vigil till November 18 and do the gate operations as per the standard operating procedures. The advisory was received by the state relief commissioner and PWD as well. “One of the important functions of the PWD as well as district collectors is to keep watching for the advisories from the CWC and take necessary action. There is a standard operating procedure to be followed. They are monitoring all the water bodies very closely,” revenue administration and disaster management, mitigation commissioner K Satyagopal said.
Vaigai in Theni district has a storage of 89% against its total capacity of 6.09tmcft, while Bhavanisagar has 87% of its capacity
(32.8tmcft). Similarly, Sholayar, Parambikulam and Aliyar too are nearly full. Amaravathi has 3.15tmcft water as against its capacity of 4.04tmcft. “The regional chief engineers were intimated to closely monitor all the dams in the south,” PWD engineer-in-chief M Bhakthavathsalam said. While the delay in onset of monsoon causes concern, the state is pinning hopes on cyclone Gaja to fill the water bodies desilted in the last two years under kudimaramath, the traditional way of restoring water bodies.
The state has received alerts from IMD about heavy rainfall from November 14 afternoon. In some places, there is forecast of very heavy rainfall. Revenue minister R B Udayakumar said that adequate preventive measures had been taken by the PWD to protect the water bodies. “Adequate sand bags have been kept ready (in case of breach),” the minister said. Going by the state government’s claim, until October end, 30,457 notified water bodies were desilted in the state and 71.79 million cubic metres of silt was removed to restore the water holding capacity of those structures.
Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur district administrations have geared up to meet any eventuality when cyclone makes the landfall. Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have arrived at Nagapattinam from Arakkonam to provide assistance. Two teams of the NDRF have reached Puducherry.
Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy told reporters that one team would be deputed to Karaikal as the impact of the cyclone could be more in Karaikal as per the IMD forecast. He said he would reach Karaikal on Tuesday night and would hold a meeting with the officials on Wednesday to review the preparedness.